Why This NVIDIA Earnings Beat Is So Important

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 13, 4:40AM EST · Published Aug 11, 4:52PM EDT

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Why This NVIDIA Earnings Beat Is So Important — © Thinkstock

NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) reported its second-quarter financial results after the markets closed on Thursday. This company has been on the cutting-edge of developing deep learning and artificial intelligence (AI), which it believes has the potential to revolutionize the market and the way we do business. NVIDIA posted a handy gain on the day and a solid win on the earnings report, seemingly paving the way for this well-positioned tech company to further its platforms. Guidance would suggest so as well.

The company posted $0.40 in earnings per share on $1.43 billion in revenue, beating consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters of $0.37 in EPS on $1.35 billion in revenue. In the same period of last year, NVIDIA said it had EPS of $0.05 and revenue of $1.15 billion.

In terms of the outlook for the fiscal third quarter, the company expects revenue to be $1.68 billion, with a gross margin of 58%, plus or minus 50 basis points. Consensus estimates call for $0.43 in EPS on $1.45 billion in revenue for the current quarter.

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During the first half of fiscal 2017, NVIDIA spent $509 million in share repurchases and $124 million in cash dividends. The company announced that it will pay out a cash dividend of $0.115 per share on September 16, for shareholders on record as of August 25.

Jen-Hsun Huang, NVIDIA’s co-founder and chief executive, commented:

Strong demand for our new Pascal-generation GPUs and surging interest in deep learning drove record results. Our strategy to focus on creating the future where graphics, computer vision and artificial intelligence converge is fueling growth across our specialized platforms — Gaming, Pro Visualization, Datacenter and Automotive.

On the books, NVIDIA’s cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities totaled $4.88 billion at the end of the quarter, versus $5.04 billion at the end of the previous fiscal year.

Shares of NVIDIA closed Thursday up 2% at $59.70, with a consensus analyst price target of $53.23 and a 52-week trading range of $58.70 to $59.95. Following the release of the earnings report, the stock was up about 3.4% at $61.71 in the after-hours trading session.

NVIDIA had been defended by several analysts ahead of the report. Now you know why they suggested that investors buy the shares if there was post-earnings weakness.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.